Browse

All Briefings

Thousands of members of Turkey’s Bar Associations march to the Parliament with a banner that reads “The state of law, not state of police!” in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 16, 2015 (AP photo by Burhan Ozbilici).

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party insists a controversial new domestic security bill, which legislators look set to make law, is up to EU standards and needed urgently. Critics argue it will create the legal conditions for a police state, strengthening the government’s hand to suppress dissent. more

Normalization of relations with the United States is Sudan’s enduring foreign policy challenge, and Khartoum won a gesture last month when communications sanctions were relaxed. But in addition to its international isolation, Khartoum must still navigate the storms in its own turbulent region. more

While the world watches the ongoing debt negotiations between Greece and its international creditors mainly for their impact on the Greek and eurozone economies, the talks have already bolstered Beijing’s plans to further integrate Europe and the Mediterranean with the Chinese market. more

With only two years left in its mandate, expectations are high that Somalia’s government can work with the country’s fractious stakeholders and complete an ambitious post-conflict transition plan. But that rests on improving cooperation on key political challenges and closing security gaps. more

Four years after the revolution began to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, Libya today faces a new and very real threat: militants affiliated with the Islamic State. But the group’s advance must be understood in the wider context of Libya’s civil war, and Libyans cannot tackle it alone. more

U.S. President Barack Obama’s January visit to India saw some long-awaited movement on the two countries’ Defense Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), touted by both sides as a means to transform the current buyer-seller defense relationship into one based on coproduction and co-development. more

Washington hopes its new approach to Cuba will enable it to recruit European and Latin American allies to push Havana on human rights and democracy. But if the U.S. succeeds at pulling together a broad coalition of countries to pressure Cuba on political liberalization, is it likely to be effective? more

Despite elections slated for October, the compromises that civilian leaders have made with the military during a precarious transition since the fall of President Blaise Compaore show how difficult it is for Burkina Faso, a country ruled by the military since 1966, to exclude the army from politics. more

Today a major maritime challenge is building up out of sight: control over the world’s fisheries. China’s aggressive behavior in particular should be considered an early warning sign of the security implications that unmanaged fisheries and illegal fishing could have for future conflicts. more

North Korea’s launch of five short-range missiles earlier this month threw icy water on some recent and uncharacteristically positive media coverage of Kim Jong Un’s regime. Despite some political and economic modifications underway, the end product is unlikely to be as impressive as the rhetoric. more